Everything I'll Ever Need
by Apples200
Summary: Picks up after the season 2 finale. Juliette and Avery find themselves further apart than ever, is there anything to bring them back together? Disclaimer: I do not own Nashville or anything or anyone associated with it
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, this is my first Nashville fic, I'd really appreciate as much feedback as possible and I hope you enjoy it **

…**..**

Juliette lifted her head only slightly to see a sharp ray of sunlight bursting through her living room window. She turned away from the light only to hear her cell phone vibrate from somewhere around the room. She groaned effortlessly as the buzzing continued, she ran her hand across the floor until she came across the phone.

"What?" she snapped, not really sure who was on the other end of the line.

"_Sorry, is this a bad time?"_

Juliette cringed as she sat up "Maddie, hey…." she said in a sweet tone as she sat up "I thought you were Glenn, what's up?"

"_My mom and Luke are engaged!"_

Juliette's eyes popped "Engaged? Since when?!"

"_Last night, at the concert. I tried to find you there but you must've left. It's all over Twitter. Haven't you seen?"_

Juliette stared out the window "I've been busy…." Her mind began to wander back to last night, completely forgetting Maddie was still on the phone.

"_Juliette, what am I going to do. My mom should be with Deacon not Luke! What is she thinking!?"_

Juliette could hear panic in the young girl's voice as she swallowed hard "Sometimes people just don't think Maddie…". Her heart ached as she spoke, the painful reminder of her reckless mistake was inescapable.

Juliette spoke with Maddie for a while, concerned at just how much she was hurting, when there was a knock at the door. She knew it wasn't Avery and therefor had no interest in talking to anyone else but the knocking persisted.

"No one's home." She shouted sarcastically, pulling the blanket around her.

"I ain't leavin' til you open up."

Juliette scoffed as the knocking continued and eventually she gave in. She pulled the door open to see Rayna standing in front of her with a sympathetic look on her face.

"Shouldn't you be with your fiancé?" Juliette said bitterly as Rayna examined her puffy eyes and pale face.

"Which one?" she asked as she pushed past Juliette and walked into the living room to see bundles of tear soaked tissues scattered across the couch. Juliette followed her, pulling the zip on her hoodie all the way up and digging her hands deep in the pockets.

"What do you mean by that?"

Rayna pushed away the tissues and took a seat, her sparkling ring becoming clear for the first time as Juliette stared at it.

"Last night, after the concert, Deacon called by and… proposed."

Juliette's jaw dropped "You are joking right."

"I wish…"

"Well what did you say?"

"I-… well what do you say to that?!"

Juliette shook her head "I don't know, I've never had two guys propose to me in one night. What are you gonna do?"

Rayna shook her head as she stared out the window "I do not know… but that is not why I'm here…" she turned her attention back to her broken, vulnerable artist "… I'm here for you, to say thank you for performing last night even though I know you were hurtin'…"

"Like I said last night, I got your back. Besides it was a nice distraction, for a little while. Avery called by last night."

"How'd it go?" Rayna asked in fear of the worst.

Juliette sighed, "I need help. I have issues deeper than Avery that I have to resolve if I ever want to prove myself to him again."

Rayna nodded, she had such respect for the young singer in that moment as it was clear her heart was breaking "Well I can't help you much with that but I can help you temporarily."

"How?"

"We had this promo tour thing set up for Scarlett, nothing major just a dozen cities, radio stations, websites, that sort of thing, a way to promote you and your music and it will take you out of Nashville for a few weeks. What d'ya say?"

"I say when do I leave?"

Rayna smiled "You will be expected in Houston 9am Monday."

"Sounds good except, what song am I going to promote? I don't have a new album."

"Have you got any songs that we can record? Anything?"

Juliette paused "Avery and I have been working on some stuff but-"

"But what?"

"I don't know if I can. It wouldn't feel right."

"Babe, both you and him are gonna be hurtin', for a long time and singin' a song that is about your relationship might help, might make you remember the good times instead of the bad."

Juliette took on Rayna's advice as she thought long and hard "There is this one song, I think would be great."

"You don't have to decide right now but when you do, give me a call and we'll get into the studio."

…..

Avery stared at the blank tv screen. His body was numb and his heart was aching. All he could think of was her. The smell of her hair, the taste of her lips, the sound of her laugh. Every time he closed his eyes he saw her and every time his phone rang he imagined her voice on the other end, instead it was Gunnar, for the 100th time checking to see if he was okay. He wasn't. He was far from it, but no amount of alcohol or pity from Gunnar or anyone else could help him forget the woman who changed his life. It was too soon to start conveying his feelings through music so instead he sat there, alone and hurting.

A faded knock at the door was enough to make him jump. He looked around the apartment before staggering over to the door. She stood there, with tears in her eyes and her hands locked together. He didn't know what to say, he thought last night was the last time he would ever speak to her but he was wrong. Despite her obvious pain she still looked beautiful and he found himself struggling to resist taking her into him and holding her.

"I'm not here to fight. I need to talk to you about something."

Avery gazed at her, she was keeping her distance clearly as her eyes looked everywhere but at him "What do you want to talk about?" he managed to scramble out.

Juliette sighed " I'm going out on a promo tour, it was Rayna's idea but I need a song to release as a single and I want to release 'Everything I'll Ever Need' but you wrote it with me and I need your permission to record it and you know, put it out there."

"You're leavin'?" He asked painfully.

"For a few weeks."

"And you're makin' an album?"

"Eventually, but I want that song on it and I want it to be the single, if you agree, that is."

"I think it's perfect, it's the right song." Avery said honestly, still taking in the news of her departure. Juliette nodded, not really sure what to say or do next.

"I'm recording it tomorrow, and I'm gonna ask Deacon to play guitar on it."

"I could-"

"No." Juliette said, interrupting him with a hint of anger in her voice.

"Juliette…"

"No Avery, I can't be in a studio with you, singing that song…" the tears began to stream down her face as Avery stepped out into the hall to be closer to her "…I can't be with you knowing that all we'll ever be is a singer and a musician, I can't. It would be too hard."

She quickly turned away from him but the force of his arm around her elbow halted her. He swung her around as he pressed his lips on her with such passion and dominance that she tilted.

Juliette wanted to pull away, she knew in her heart that this would only end up in heartbreak and would fix nothing between them but her body wouldn't let her. Instead she pulled his shirt from his body and shut the door behind them as he led her towards the bed. He searched frantically for the zip on her jeans as he lay her down on the bed, showering her neck in kisses. He knew this was wrong, he knew he should have stopped it by now but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Holding her in his arms as they both passionately kissed each other was respite from the pain in his heart and if this was their goodbye then he was going to use it to show her just how much he loved her. He could feel her salty tears against his skin as he wiped them away.

"I love you…" he whispered as he pressed his body against hers "… I love you so much."

"I love you too." Juliette croaked as she looked deep into his eyes.

….

"You don't have to leave, you can stay until morning…" Avery said softly as he watched Juliette creep across the apartment and make her way to the door. She heard him follow after her but she knew she had to leave.

"It's almost morning, it's time to go."

"Juliette-"

"Avery I hate this, I hate that is where we say goodbye because I thought we were going to be the couple that made it but we didn't, and that is my fault and I will forever be a lesser person because of that."

Avery hung his head as a tear rolled down his cheek.

"I love you, but like you said, we are both going to have to get over it."

….


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you so much for the feedback on the last chapter, sorry this one took so long but I have just been crazy busy! I hope you enjoy this chapter and please review! Thanks.**

…

"Where are we again?"

"Austin."

Juliette nodded to herself as she scrolled through her constantly updating tweets on her phone. Glenn and Emily watched on as the trio sat quietly in the blacked out SUV.

"Rayna called this morning to say she wants you to go to L.A for a few days. She has a lot of interviews lined up and we have generated Ellen buzz."

Juliette lifted her head "Ellen? As in the Ellen Show? Seriously?"

"Apparently she loves both you and Rayna, and is desperate to meet you both."

"When?"

Glenn scrolled through the list of emails in his phone "Nothing is set in stone but we have a better chance if you're out there. So we're flying there straight after your GMA appearance on Wednesday."

"Sounds good. How long until we get to the radio station?" Juliette asked the driver as Emily looked over at Glenn. She had worked with Juliette long enough to know when something was bothering her but this new calm composure she had going on was just not her and most walked on eggshells in fear that at any moment the bubble would burst and so would her emotions.

As the car pulled up at the entrance to the building, Juliette could hear the screaming fans waiting for her as she smiled sincerely towards Emily.

"Let's do this." She said confidently as she emerged from the car and made her way straight over to the crowd of fans screaming her name. Glenn and Emily followed behind both watching her every move.

"Has she talked about him?" Glenn asked as they entered the building and Juliette was greeted by the executive producer.

Emily shook her head "Not once in 3 weeks. We sit in those radio stations and she talks and talks and that song is played but she doesn't listen."

As Juliette waited to go on air she stared out the window which opened out onto the street where she saw her collection of fans still standing despite the blistering summer heat. She could hear the noise in the background but it never really registered with her, all she could think of was Avery. They hadn't spoken in 3 weeks but that didn't mean she hadn't thought about calling him, just to hear his voice.

"Juliette, we're ready for you now."

Juliette took one more glance at the crowd of people before peeling away and slinking into the studio chair. Glenn took a seat beside her as he pushed a sheet of paper in front of her. Juliette scanned the questions as Glenn watched on anxiously.

"No to number 4."

"Juliette-"

"I am not answering that question Glenn."

"But it's about the song! You have to answer it."

"No Glenn, it asks about the inspiration which you and I both know is just a roundabout way of askin' me about…" she paused for a minute as Glenn locked eyes with her "… I'm not answerin' it."

Glenn sighed in defeat as he left the table leaving Juliette sitting there alone. He was done fighting her on the subject.

"Glenn." She called after him "… Bring me out some of my singles, I wanna sign them and give them out to the people waiting outside."

Glenn nodded "Okay, I'll set it up."

…..

"We could go get pizza? Or... or we could-"

"Gunnar just stop alright, I'm fine."

Gunnar looked at Avery, sitting there surrounded by empty bottles and a lot of self-pity, he knew Avery was not fine and so did Scarlett who searched the fridge for something other than beer and cold chinese food. Avery looked over at her and to see what she was doing to his fridge.

"I thought you were leavin' town?"

"It's a work in progress."

"Well if you ask me you should just get out of this town as soon as you can…. Everyone else has anyway." Avery said bitterly as he reached for another bottle of beer.

Gunnar sighed "She's workin' man, you knew that…"

"No she's not she's runnin' away." His words bitter and with a twist of anger.

"Well what was she meant to do? Sit and drink beer? You broke up with her." Gunnar said to himself as he stood up and Scarlett lifted her head in shock to see Avery's reaction.

Avery jumped up and reached out to hit Gunnar but his flimsy swing missed and fell flat as Gunnar pushed him back. Avery stammered but managed to stay on his feet as he moved towards Gunnar.

"Are you actually defendin' her?" He spat out at him as Scarlett came between them.

"You broke up with her Avery!"

"Because she slept with Jeff!"

"I know!" Gunnar screamed back at him but soon saw the light leave his eyes and become misty, his pain was fresh so he softened tone and took a seat beside him "…So please either move on or fix things with her but sittin' here like this all day is the wrong way to be and you know it."

Avery hung his head "I love her… I can't make myself move on because in my mind we're still together, there's nothing wrong… and then I remember it all."

Gunnar looked over at Scarlett, urging her to speak up but she was at a loss. She had never seen Avery like this, so broken.

"What do I do?" He pleaded as Scarlett placed her hand on his knee and squeezed it but Avery was numb, he felt nothing.

"Do you want to fix things with her?" Scarlett asked.

"I don't know. I mean she slept with him, I can't look at a girl without thinking about her…"

Gunnar ran his fingers through his hair and sighed "It sucks what happened and it sucks that she slept with Jeff but you can't keep living like this. So what do you want to do Avery? Do you want to call her? Or join up with her on the road or what because I can't let you sit here and be miserable."

"I wanna go and get drunk…" Avery said as he stood up "… you comin' or not?"

….

"Okay here in studio now we have the ever beautiful Juliette Barnes, how are you today Juliette?"

Juliette zoned back in on the chipper radio presenter with a fake smile on her face "I'm good, a little tired but happy to be here." She tried to speak with joy but on the inside she was burning with pain and hurt.

"So first things first, you have a new song out called "Everything I'll Ever Need"… tell me about it, how did it come about?"

Juliette looked over at Jeff who had his head in his hands. She swallowed hard as she tried to compose herself, remembering she was live on air "Well Dave, its an extremely personal song that I wrote a while back with someone who was… who is very important to me and I felt like it was the perfect song to release from my new album."

"It's very different from other stuff we've heard from you, is this what your fans can expect from your new album?"

"The thing about this song is that it is so personal and means so much to me so the new album will definitely be different in the sense that it will have a personal connection my other albums didn't have."

"And when should we expect this album?"

"Well I'm busy travelling at the minute but once I get back to Nashville I hope to get in the studio and work with a great producer."

"Any producers confirmed so far?"

Juliette paused as Glenn listened on intently "I had one lined up but… things change so right now I am just going to wait and see what happens."

"He wouldn't have been Avery Barkley, your never-confirmed boyfriend?" The interviewer asked coyly as Glenn pressed up against the glass separating him from the studio. Juliette suddenly tensed up and her stomach became tight. Both Glenn and Emily expected her to burst with rage but instead she smiled sweetly, clasped her hands together and looked him right in the eye.

"Well it's a good thing it was never confirmed then huh?" She looked over at Glenn with a grin on her face as the interviewer laugh awkwardly into his microphone.

"Ok well how about we give our listeners what they've been waiting for… it was great talking to you Juliette."

"You too."

"Okay here we go playing for the first time on Austin radio, Juliette Barnes "Everything I'll Ever Need."

Juliette waited until she could hear the track in her headphones before ripping them off and immediately making her way out of the studio.

"That guy, was an idiot." She stated to Glenn as she pushed past him and made her way out of the office and towards the entrance where her fans remained in a semi-circle around the door patiently waiting. Juliette once again forced a smile on her face, she was genuinely happy that people were slowly starting to see her positively again but having to talk even think about Avery in that interview made her heart sting and her stomach hurt.

….

"I just think that you are pushing yourself too much Juliette, you need to take a break."

"What I need Emily, is to win over the Country Music scene and all the people who think I am a home-wrecking atheist slut."

Emily sighed "And you think being hospitalized for exhaustion is going to do that?"

Juliette threw her phone and make-up bag into her handbag as she buzzed around the hotel room searching for various items. Her mind was in an entirely different place despite the best efforts of her assistant. She took a quick glance at the time on her watch and pushed past Emily "No offense Emily but right now I don't need my friend, I need my assistant. So can you take those things down to the car and tell Glenn to make sure once we get to New York he sends the list of questions to radio stations ahead of time…. I will not let what happened today happen again."

Emily nodded slowly as she watched the fierce blonde exit the room "God I miss Avery…" she said to herself as she pulled the big suitcase behind her.

Juliette sat quietly in the blacked out SVU waiting for both Glenn and Emily, thinking about what she said in her interview earlier, about how this album would be personal and raw and she knew the only person capable of reaching that with her was Avery. He knew her music better than anyone she had ever worked with. As she stared out the window at the busy streets, she heard her phone ring from her pocket. Reluctantly she pulled it out but soon froze once she saw the name on the screen…..

"Avery…" she said slowly as she felt her throat tighten up.

There was a moments silence "Yeah it's me."

"Is… is everything ok?"

Avery laughed bitterly down the phone as the tears began to form in Juliette's eyes "No…" he droned "No everything is not ok."

"Are you drunk?"

"I just called to tell you that I hate what you did… and I hate that I love you so much."

The tears rolled down her face as she continued to listen, she knew she should have hung up on him but a part of her wanted to hear it, to hear him say the words she said about herself so much these past few weeks.

"And I hate that every time I hear our song on the radio I get this pain, you know?"

Juliette wasn't sure if that was rhetorical question or not but she answered anyway "I know… I know…" she wailed into the phone as Avery slugged at another beer, he didn't why he called her, he just had to hear her voice and he knew it wasn't fair to either of them but he missed her.

Juliette gripped at the phone as the tears streamed down her face "Goodbye Avery." There was a low mumble before the line disconnected and before she knew it she had thrown the phone as far away from her as possible as Emily opened the door to see a very distressed Juliette.

"What happened?" she asked as she hopped in the car.

Juliette opened her mouth but all she could do was cry "I need to get a new phone…"

…


End file.
